Right now Ellie is sleeping at a friend's house and Shelly and I are putting the finishing touches on our preparations for the birth of our second child. It's beginning to sink in a little bit, but it won't be entirely real until tomorrow, when I hold her in my arms.

We've got an appointment for a C-section tomorrow morning. We have to show up at 8am, and the doctor is supposed to start the procedure around 10 (subject to the needs of other patients around that time who can't be as patient as we can be). We figured the best thing for Ellie would be to take her to her friend Jasmine's house tonight so we don't have to deal with dropping her off in the morning. Rush-hour traffic on I-395 is going to be bad enough as it is, getting to the hospital.

Everything's ready. We broke out the binkies and the bottles this afternoon, which really sent me for a throwback to when Ellie was little -- I realized we're really going to be starting all over.

I set up my voicemail and email auto-response at work today, and finished up the project I was working on. Even if I did show up for work tomorrow, there would be nothing to do. Thanks to a generous paternity leave policy and the Thanksgiving holiday, I won't be back till November 26.

We have a name all decided upon and ready, though I won't post it till tomorrow. If you've talked to us recently, you may have been on the receiving end of an information leak. (Of course, if, despite the ultrasound, it turns out to be a boy, we're going to have to do some quick thinking -- we have a list of 5 or so names we kind of like, but that's as far as we've been down that road thanks to our confidence in modern medical technology.)

Tonight I gave both Shelly and Ellie a blessing. This was my first father's blessing -- it seems odd that Ellie has lived for two years without that happening before, but I guess I should be grateful that she hasn't needed it. I was really overcome with love for my family this evening. That little girl means the world to me, and it makes the advent of another little girl all the more meaningful.

And Shelly finally finished the baby blanket she's been knitting pretty much since we found out we were expecting. I think she intends to post a picture over at her blog.

Tonight Shelly and I will spend our first childless night since the night of November 3, 2005 -- the night before Ellie was born, when we were in the hospital going through the middle of Shelly's 45-hour labor. Neither of us slept much that night. Hopefully tonight will be more restful, and the doctors will be the only ones to perform any labor tomorrow. I am excited to start down this wonderful road again. There are still lots of uncertainties -- How will bedtime with two children work? Do I remember how to properly swaddle a baby? -- but I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

My next post will be an announcement.